Exclusive reveal of Mad Max’s back story just before ‘Fury Road’

What happened to the characters before the raging chase across the desert that became “Mad Max: Fury Road?” What was Max up to before he was chewing on live lizards in the bleak desert? DC Comics imprint Vertigo has turned the secret back story dreamed up by director George Miller into a collection of prelude comics, and this is an exclusive glimpse of what Max was doing before the events of the film.

Each issue of this comic collection is a self-contained story about a different character from “Fury Road” and revealing more details of life in the hard post-apocalyptic world. According to Vertigo, these are the back stories Miller gave the cast to put each actor in the right head space for “Fury Road,” which shot without a traditional script.

“Mad Max: Fury Road – Mad Max No. 2” concludes the monthly installments of comics that are also in canon with the film. And yep, Max is still stumbling into calamity after calamity, like the “The Littlest Hobo” (a character Tom Hardy pulled inspiration from for his portrayal of Max) only with lethal repercussions.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Left for dead and his V8 Interceptor stolen, Max Rockatansky sets out to retrieve it…heading straight into the bowels of the sunken city with nothing but his sawed-off shotgun. But the stakes are much higher than the fate of Max’s ride — an innocent girl, Glory, has also been kidnapped by the depraved Buzzards. By the time Max arrives, it may already be too late…”

Written by Nico Lathouris, George Miller, Mark Sexton and art by Sexton as well (cover by Tommy Lee Edwrds) “Mad Max: Fury Road – Mad Max No. 2” is out Wednesday.